How Fuel Efficiency & Consumption Works - Scrap Mechanic Science!

How does fuel consumption in Scrap Mechanic work? With the help of SCIENCE, I'm going to find out which engine is the most efficient!
How efficient are scrap gas engines?
Does the number of bearings make a difference?
Does the power level make a difference?
What does upgrading engines do?
Gas vs electric engine showdown!
Are thrusters really that bad?
Which engine is the most efficient?
I've always been curious about how fuel efficiency works in Scrap Mechanic Survival. Do you really need a fuelless car? Or can a good ol' gas engine at level 5 do the job? Are batteries more efficient? Today, I found out.
Did you enjoy this video? Do you want to see more Scrap Mechanic Science? Or perhaps science in a different game? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
You can buy Scrap Mechanic here: store.steampowered.com/app/38...
Music
"Hyperfun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
"The Builder" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Welcome to the Show Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
00:00 Intro
00:32 Scrap vs. Gas
02:06 Bearings
02:52 Power
03:38 Gas vs. Electric
06:00 Efficiency Upgrades
07:41 Gas vs. Electric II
10:05 Thruster
18:02 Summary
20:08 Outro

[@spud5921]

the electric engine may seem more fuel efficient at first glance but remember that in scrap mechanic, gas is more renewable than electricity for some reason there's no solar panels or wind turbines, but there's literally entire ponds full of oil if you know where to look for them

[@Dr-Pixel]

Yeah, I think the video was done before the oil update or without it in mind. Free oil is kinda game-breaking.

[@zathegame9870]

Well technically renewable batteries are coming to chapter 2

[@spud5921]

@@zathegame9870 pretty sure we weren't aware of that when I replied 8 months ago

[@caracalfloppa4997]

The oil pools were done to give gas engines and thrusters at least a fighting chance against controller power and piston power

[@szupertntakos5000]

In the future electrycity will be more renuveable with the battery producer(or whatever it's called).

[@Cybot_2419]

I also used to do some Experiments for building Flyers. Some of the most interesting Results I got that you could maybe verify are: -Actual block weight doesn’t scale linearly with the weight description. The relation is: 1 - 1; 2 - 2; 3 - 3; 4 - 4; 5 - 6; 6 - 8; 7 - 10; 8 - 14; 9 - 18 Notable exceptions are Small Pipes each weighing 1.5 per Block as well as bearings, pistons and springs which have no weight. -Thruster Force is proportional with Thruster fuel consumption for a give Level. Force increases exponentially for each setting with a base of 1.5 -Thruster Force varies slightly over time, in magnitude and direction. The Game files also hint at this. -Free bearings don’t have friction. -Air resistance is proportional to mass and velocity, rather than real air resistance which is proportional to the drag coefficient and velocity squared in most common cases. -Bearing are much weaker in survival than in creative mode. When met with a linear force they move or stretch a lot.

[@Dr-Pixel]

Very interesting! Good job with your experiments. Maybe I'll verify some of your results. Especially weight seems to be one of the most interesting topics. So far this has been well received, so I plan on doing more in the future. Who knows? Maybe we'll be able to calculate quantum spins in Scrap Mechanic one day.

[@_miobrot_603]

I am super curious as to how you tested that bearings have no resistance. I did an experiment recently calculating the resistance of bearing, and I came up with this formula: RPM*0.7^s or -30% angular speed per second.

[@LolloGamer_-sp5vq]

How do you have 230 Subs... I thought you had at least 6 or 7k Subscrivers, this is underrated content.. you deserve more subscribers, keep this up!

[@Dr-Pixel]

Well, I'm still learning how to grow a channel and there are a few things I could have done better. And in the end, it's always down to patience and consistency. I've only been doing Scrap Mechanic for 2 months, after all. Thanks for the encouraging word! Always appreciated!

[@pi0neer758]

@@Dr-Pixel well, you have 6k now

[@zathegame9870]

Well u have 4.48K now

[@ozanyaman-oznymn7242]

İts time

[@kittyn5222]

Now he has

[@Germinight]

That is some amazing experimenting you did there. I really like how these results turned out. Sucks that the thrusters are so inefficient though. Amazing job Dr Pixel. The "Dr" part of your name really fit well in this video

[@Dr-Pixel]

We all know the thrusters suck in terms of efficiency... The video has been well received, so I'll be doing more content like this. Maybe my channel will be about science in Scrap Mechanic(or other games) one day. But then I don't want to be 'Dr Pixel, the scientist', but instead 'Dr Pixel , the *mad* scientist' muhahahah.

[@abelcsernak6951]

Thanks for "wasting" your time to save me from wasting my time! I wish you many subscribers and 2 pancakes :)

[@Dr-Pixel]

Thank you! Looks like you like food. I've got something very delicious for this week:)

[@trollvincent5786]

My god this whole channel is so underated ! I loved it ! Thanks !

[@Dr-Pixel]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@Dr-Pixel]

Somebody looked at the game code and came to the following conclusions: 1. Efficiency scales exactly as I assumed 2. Batteries and gasoline don't seem to have a difference, so the electric engine and gas engine should be equally efficient 3. Past a certain point, fuel consumption doesn't increase linearly with weight, but with a square root. Source(See for more details) www.reddit.com/r/ScrapMechanic/comments/jcciqu/ive_used_science_to_determine_which_engine_is_the/g91tkll?context=3 I also made a Steam Guide, so if you want to stare at the beautiful data some more, here you go: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2259205345

[@Dr-Pixel]

@Technology Boy Well, I could, but I don't think engines are any different in creative. At least, as long as they are the actual survival engines.

[@tanay6003]

I am so sorry for u . u grinded for hours to the the test and some guy cames in and says i looked at the codes

[@Dr-Pixel]

@@tanay6003 Looking at the code is always an option, but it's way less interesting. Part of doing this video was to do some science in-game, which I think worked out really well. In the end, we can use the code to verify my findings.

[@machineball]

the force of a thruster goes up exponentially, I assume that its efficiency would to measuring the thrust produced in the equivalent of weight force of the concrete block 3 L1 - 6.4 L2 - 9.5 L3 - 14 L4 - 21.3 L5 - 32.02 L6 - 47.6 L7 - 71.2 Keep in mind that the units shown are of the force in equivalent to a number of concrete block 3 the mass of the concrete block 3 is 35.5625 also the mass of the thruster goes down when you upgrade is so the thrust to weight ratio will change. you should also note that the torque of the gass engine follows a similar path as wall as the rpm of the electric engine. I recommend making a dynamotor in a controlled environment. its not that hard. I've ben studying the game's physics engine and I've ben working on a 'cyclotron' of sorts to study the aerodynamic drag or general resistance as I call it and how it scales. im hoping to get a video out covering my findings soon. there are lots of creative people in the community witch is good but it hurts me to see innovative people getting swept under the rug and how over saturated the game is with nonsense.

[@Dr-Pixel]

Yeah, the force goes up exponentially, but so does the fuel consumption. Well, I figured the changing thrust to weight ratio out the hard way. That's awesome! I hope you find the time to publish your experiments and results in the Scrap Mechanic community! Yeah, what the big guys do isn't very creative but it keeps some people entertained, I guess. Seriously though, building a house in 10 secs, 1 min, and 10 mins, in a video that is 18:30 is just a joke.

[@_miobrot_603]

All I can say is that I wish I found this channel a year earlier from now. Legendary content!

[@Dr-Pixel]

Thanks, man

[@inund8]

Protip: if you did this with saw blades, you wouldn't have to worry about bots getting in the way

[@Dr-Pixel]

Well, that's genius.

[@tematist8673]

I like your humour, science and montage. You are the best)

[@Dr-Pixel]

Thanks a lot!

[@aronhegyes5059]

My doctor: Long haired thruster doesn't exist, it can't hurt you. Long haired thruster: 11:29

[@Vajdani]

Damn, I enjoyed this video a lot more than I thought I will

[@Dr-Pixel]

Thanks! Hope it was helpful. I've got a bunch of other videos where I do less serious things with even more silly editing. Maybe you'll enjoy them more than you think too!

[@Gaff256]

That compare electric to gas engine was very cool. Thrusters to engines was like compare bananas to feathers... But still didn't know upgrade thrusters decreases it's weight.

[@malindukumaradasa3851]

The way you carried out the experiments was so interesting to watch

[@Dr-Pixel]

Thank you! I have a new video with experiments in the works:)

[@malindukumaradasa3851]

@@Dr-Pixel Can't wait!

[@MrLarsgren]

to add a little fuel data. this boat steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2111343664 use 2 lvl 5 thrusters. with settings on max tank last like 30 seconds. but set to half power tank last 2 minutes. same if you add a 2nd engine to your car and lower engine setting you will gain torgue + power + you actually save fuel. they need to be lvl 5 to be most fuel effecient.

[@jettsmith4594]

This was helpful!

[@Dr-Pixel]

Glad to help

[@Zylop6]

Ma man, this eddeting is dang awesome

[@BrunisPistol]

I would really like to see a revisit that takes into account the weight of the vehicle, not just the wheels. I've definitely noticed my car using more fuel when I hook a trailer to it, and my mining rig consumes significantly more despite them both being 4WD with large wheels

[@Dr-Pixel]

It's more difficult to test with the weight of the vehicle. But in the end, the fuel consumption is speed*mass, so if you have a heavier vehicle, it consumes more fuel. I don't know the exact correlation, but the lighter, the better.

[@SpookyDaScaaary]

The greatest mind bestows his great knowledge, on to our world 🌠

[@KaneyoriHK]

The normal like, consensus or design is that electric engines have better torque, they are better for moving something heavier than a gas engine, which provides speed, that is the main difference between the two, they are about equal in efficiency according to the data, but if you want to go fast, strap a gas engine on there, if you want power, strap an electric engine on there, this is how they were created, with these two functions in mind. Of course this logic isn't perfect, at times the speed counteracts the torque problem, but from what I've seen, this is how they work.

[@LutraLovegood]

Electric engines also start at full power, making them great for things that aren't cars (or as extra power for a dual drive car)

[@johnraven5517]

Thanks for the info, I can now make more efficient cars

[@Dr-Pixel]

Glad to help

[@altaem9152]

I am utterly amazed that you did all those tests legitimately in survival mode. I would have enabled unlimited inventory. All very interesting, but didn't answer the question everyone asks. "How many wheels do I connect to my engine?" Maybe you could do a sequel?

[@Dr-Pixel]

Thanks! I could have used cheats, but I prefer to do things 100% vanilla. But maybe l will use mods and cheats one day. I don't really get your question. If you have a car with an even number of wheels, you need to connect at least two wheels. Connecting more wheels will increase fuel consumption, but also speed. This shouldn't make any difference. Well, maybe if your suspension isn't good enough and some wheels get off the ground, but that can also happen with two wheels.

[@vonholtz1]

Ok I saw this a month and a half after you post. And there now some thing new that changes how to look at the gas engine. Oil easier to get then before with the oil pools. And battery are hard to make. Also when testing the gas engine most the time your only moving a wheel. so the weight of the engine was not in the equation. where the thruster has to move the wheel as well as it own Weight. But that said it still not as efficient as the others. Fun video even the bots want in on it. :)

[@Dr-Pixel]

Thanks! Yeah, I should have taken the weight of the engine into account, but if you build a car it's likely not the heaviest part. The numbers of the electric and gas engine are still comparable, and we all agree that the thruster is very inefficient.

[@spacewalk3046]

the end was funny. and at first i thought the lvl 5 thruster at the same power lvl as a lvl 1 increased because the lvl 5 thruster can speed up more but it is because of the weight

[@Dr-Pixel]

That's exactly what I thought. I totally forgot that upgrading stuff improves durability, weight, and so on. Well, at least we've got science to figure those things out. You mean the summary or the 20 second long outro? I don't know if those outros are really worth it. Most people just skip them anyway.

[@eduardomauriciofulgencio5925]

Ótimo vídeo =-)

[@velpreso1156]

gr8 job

[@lillappy7520]

3:05 IS THAT SCRAPMAN'S HANK ?!?!

[@MrBoss1]

dang i am late!!!!!!!!!! But great as always

[@Mateo-zi8ub]

You forgot the mountable spungun. Instead of fuel uses potatoes, but it´s like a thruster.

[@Dr-Pixel]

Well, I guess then I could also use the water cannon and chemical cannon. Haven't thought about it. Sounds interesting. Maybe I'll look into it. Thanks for the idea!

[@BrunisPistol]

@@Dr-Pixel the thrust-weight ratio of water cannons is way too low to work, especially if you are adding containers (and pumps for a boat)

[@prebenkul]

so if you had 2 lvl 5 engines connected to 2 wheels each, would that be more efficient in fuel than having 1 engine lvl 5 connected to 4?

[@LutraLovegood]

Having two engines would increase weight, but it also means 10 more fuel available. If you want a longer trip though just connect one of those fuel thingies to a chest full of fuel, you'll have fuel for days (or not, if you're using your engine on max power). On the other hand with two engines you get more power per wheel, so it depends on what you want/need.

[@aleksanderluht1695]

Which one of these you recommend for mining wehicle drill's

[@Gummydalf-hb6jj]

15:40 I want to build a helicopter in survival and holy shit getting 16 thrusters to level 5 is pain...

[@tjhedgescout3052]

Can you do a sequel that includes engines added by the Fant mod? Cause i am curious what mod engines have for fuel time as well ^^;

[@glil477]

What editing software do you use? Thanks for your answer

[@Dr-Pixel]

You shouldn't thank people in advance. But I use DaVinci Resolve.

[@mad_6519]

pretty sure fuel consumption is mainly based on the weight of the contraption edit : source: one of my favourite scrap mechanic yters beginning with k

[@Dr-Pixel]

Weight and velocity. Doesn't mean a slower car is more efficient though

[@zomb0565]

what editing software do you use

[@Dr-Pixel]

DaVinci Resolve

[@vryko8567]

What about the difference between large and small wheels?

[@VHS_Serenity]

Can you do a part two by doing different power levels

[@VHS_Serenity]

And doing al the combinations of level and power

[@Dr-Pixel]

It was a lot of work running the tests and stuff. But I mentioned power levels. So I hope it still helps.

[@VHS_Serenity]

Ok

[@VHS_Serenity]

Also you could of done it in creative using a fuel container

[@nahuelelkpo23]

What about pulsing the engines? like having them turn on and of every .5 secs

[@Dr-Pixel]

That wouldn't increase efficiency. It might make it worse, though. You also need energy if you brake.

[@imRevenjo]

What editing software is that?

[@Dr-Pixel]

DaVinci Resolve

[@lyagob]

I think the lvl4-5 gas engine is the best

[@kirobean]

either you can worry about this, or you can use a level 5 controller with 5 bearings per wheel to have infinite fuel

[@Apersonl0l]

What

[@kirobean]

@@Apersonl0l if you get a level 5 controller, and have 5 bearings stacked on top of each other per axle, (separated by blocks of course) you can get some serious power and speed from the controller

[@flak8857]

that takes probably too much comp kits and rip physics, having alot of bearings for a wheel is not a fun experience

[@Vlad-te5ij]

Enchantement Effency 5!

[@Dr-Pixel]

Component kits are certainly magical.

[@Vlad-te5ij]

​@@Dr-Pixel it is just a lapis lazurit

[@SvetlinTotev]

Your tests are quite misleading. The fuel consumption for the gas and electric engines is based on the work that they do. Spinning a small wheel on a bearing requires almost no work because the friction is very little. The friction also depends on the speed. If you wanted to compare more accurately the engines you need to give them the same work to do and test them with different work loads. One way of doing this is by pushing the wheels with something with a constant force. This way the friction force will be constant. Then using the total number of rotations you can get the distance that the force was applied over. Multiply that by the force and you get the energy. So in terms of relative efficiency you an just compare the total number of rotations when applying a constant force. Your test already does that to some extent but the friction of the wheels on the bearings isn't constant so it is not perfect. The gas engine uses a type of bell-like curve to determine the torque based on the speed, similar to a real life gas engine (it has a little bit of torque when not spinning, increases to a maximum at some relatively high rotation speed and then gradually decreases at higher speeds). The Electric engine tries to spin at a very specific speed and can apply quite a lot of torque regardless of the speed. The thruster functions in a completely different way. It applies a constant force and consumes a constant amount of fuel regardless of speed. This means that in theory you can get as high efficiency as you want because by moving faster it does more work per unit of fuel. In practice the air resistance limits this quite a lot. But if you have enough engines or a light enough flying vehicle you can move fairly efficiently by just going as fast as possible. Oh, and let's not forget that the thruster lets you fly :) .

[@_JaKuba_]

2:20 i didnt know green bots can eat engine 👀

[@Dr-Pixel]

if the engine is low level enough so is its durability

[@_JaKuba_]

Good to know, thanks 👍

[@kwkzkm7340]

I have bugged engine because it don't have fuel but its working on full power

[@Dr-Pixel]

You can try to verify the game files if this annoys you, if all engines are bugged out and not just one.

[@doom6787]

What file changes this thing like engines and life

[@cameronkneller1114]

You should get in contact with kan gaming

[@Dr-Pixel]

Well, maybe some time. I would love to talk to the big guy.

[@Vlad-te5ij]

19:57 so build a car for that

[@alierengam1749]

Good video there has been effort put into it. But i dont like the sounds effects

[@Dr-Pixel]

Thanks for your feedback! I tend to do a lot of content where I go over the top with the editing, so that's where those effects come from. I'll keep this in mind.

[@_Nykolaii_]

Although electric engine is better, gas engine is better imo because gas is easier to acquire, especially early-game.

[@Apocalypticgaming27]

Is no one won't gonna talk about how much dedication this man put into this video for us.❤

[@remcoland]

Now compare it to a controller powered car ;)

[@bombat1214]

BUT!! can you fly whit the scrap gas and elecric engine??!

[@cubu1946]

since the thruster seems so all over the place with the results... why try tons of different things to get tons of different results when you could have just ran the same test on the 1 wheel and multiple wheels multiple times lets say 6-10 times... and then get the average... just like any ordinary person would have done and then do all the extra stuff too...

[@Dr-Pixel]

Because I figured out a test that worked and produced the results I needed.

[@TheRealGimynus1]

Just use 1 gas and then the amount of time it takes to run out times 10 easy

[@NovaAge]

Oh cool *parks my piston engine car*

[@ScottaHemi440]

well that explains why my Hemtt is such a hog xD

[@Etlac.Xelliko]

thruster

[@Dr-Pixel]

electric engine and gas engine should have the same efficiency. It's also much easier to get gasoline.

[@FroGGi1989]

you lost me at the math xDD

[@danbrit9848]

get on the roof of the shop to run your tests...no bots

[@Dr-Pixel]

Smart idea.

[@Tommy-pv1vh]

So the heavier car the more gas needed

[@Dr-Pixel]

Exactly! Very heavy cars don't scale linearly, though.

[@southerngecko5627]

And heres the problem you cant measure thrust in rpm as you cant measure a wheels engine power in thrust

[@Chips96]

There is one problem. The electric engine need battery and battery is very rare

[@Channel_Name_1]

controller is most efficient

[@lillappy7520]

did u know that the scrap engine use even less fuel than the lvl 5 engine u think im joking? nope watch one of scrapman's survival vid that the consumption rate is so low from using as a drill one drill les consumption unless u want use all of the fuel fast use it as a wheel xd one drill while no weight on the scrap engine is so low u can even use it without the container dunno y but thats how it works.... u will know what i mean when u see it

[@Dr-Pixel]

The other engines should be more efficient, but as I showed you can spin a wheel for a really long time because it doesn't have a lot of weight.

[@omarkadir7572]

Efficiency means less fuel used

[@Wreckedftfoxy]

wait a second piston engines are more efficent cause they got unlimited fuel and faster speed then a controller

[@Wreckedftfoxy]

so that means the piston engine is way faster but doesnt use any fuel ethier but requires more stuff

[@Dr-Pixel]

@@Wreckedftfoxy Yes, but that wasn't the point of this video. And controller cars can be fast too. Other factors such as complexity and building costs are more important here.

[@Wreckedftfoxy]

@@Dr-Pixel but yes piston engines do cost a lot the material is up to you the pistons can be base and simple designs exist also you mostly need pipes cause of the round hitbox

[@santyborrero3743]

Trusters are for flying builds not for wheels lol

[@Dr-Pixel]

I know, but I wanted to compare their efficiency to engines, so I could make those diagrams.

[@xcz73]

The bigger wheels uses more gas

[@Dr-Pixel]

True

[@murad-bc6vk]

The video: (literally explaining which is the best engine) His voice and the background voice: Theese people deserve to feel like in hell even in the overworld.

[@termisher5676]

You can save time by using cheat engine and speeding up game 2 times

[@hubertwawszczak9891]

why would you test that on your survival world and not just use dev mode to spawn the parts you need.. so unnececary..

[@Dr-Pixel]

why you even spawn in the parts if you can just look at the code? That was never the point of it. It's to show that you can.

[@zxzx8173]

electric engines are better for weight but bad for speed

[@00FantMod]

No Guess.... look in the files... there is no Magic hidden.

[@Dr-Pixel]

I guess you're right. However, I saw no one posting those numbers, so I did assume it wouldn't be that easy. Anyway, I think it's a pretty cool thing that you can get to those numbers scientifically with in-game experiments.

[@wasnietak4919]

sus

[@CHAD_GAMNIG]

bro robots eating your electric engine only (racist robots)

[@antonymiller2086]

He sounds german